Flyers Energy Acquires Quick Fuel
Jacksons Food Stores Rebranding to ExtraMile
Mister Car Wash Continues Expansion
S.F. Voters Approve of Flavored Tobacco Ban

FLYERS ENERGY ACQUIRES QUICK FUEL

AUBURN, CA. — Flyers Energy has acquired Milwaukee, WI.-based Quick Fuel automated fueling network from Jacobus Energy. The price for the purchase was not disclosed.

Included in the deal, which closed at the end of June, are 49 Quick Fuel sites in Wisconsin, Minnesota, Michigan, Illinois, Indiana, Georgia, Florida, Texas, Iowa, Kansas, Tennessee, North Carolina, Kentucky, Missouri and Ohio.

According to Flyers, the majority of the Quick Fuel sites are located on major trucking routes in the Midwest and the South, with clusters of stations around Milwaukee, Atlanta, Dallas, as well as in central Florida.

Flyers will keep the Quick Fuel name and branding and has hired the Quick Fuel employees to continue to run the fueling network.

"The customer experience won't change," said Ken Dwelle, COO of Flyers. "Quick Fuel has a strong regional brand identity and we have plans to expand throughout the country with more automated fueling sites."

Flyers Managing Partner Walt Dwelle added, "Our vision for commercial fueling growth was to own or control sites from coast to coast."

Flyers now operates more than 300 fueling locations in California, Arizona, and Nevada as well as the 15 states covered by Quick Fuel.

JACKSONS FOOD STORES REBRANDING TO EXTRAMILE

MERIDIAN, ID. — The conversion of Jacksons Food Stores to ExtraMile Convenience Stores is "well underway."

Jacksons Food Stores, based here, announced plans to convert over 60 of its convenience stores to the ExtraMile brand during the course of 2018, creating a new franchise division, ExtraMile Convenience Stores LLC, to manage the c-stores.

This new division is a joint venture between Jacksons and Chevron U.S.A., which owns and franchises the ExtraMile brand.

With the conversion of the Jacksons stations, the ExtraMile brand will expand into four new states: Idaho, Nevada, Utah, and Arizona.

"We are honored to be part of this great opportunity to grow ExtraMile," stated John Jackson, CEO and president of Jacksons Food Stores. "We are committed to the long-term success of ExtraMile and will be rebranding all of our Jacksons/Chevron company-owned locations to ExtraMile."

He continued, "We are looking forward to combining the entrepreneurial spirit of the franchisees with the ExtraMile brand and the capabilities of Jacksons to become the leading convenience retailer in the West."

Jacksons currently operates over 230 locations in Idaho, Nevada, Utah, Arizona, Oregon and Washington.

The conversion of the Jacksons c-stores to ExtraMile is planned to be completed by the end of the year — and is expected to be the beginning of further expansion of Jacksons and ExtraMile locations in the West.

"This is an exciting time for Chevron, Jacksons and the new company as we kick off the next chapter in our ExtraMile growth story," said Chevron's Paul Casadont, serving as president of the ExtraMile Convenience Stores division. "By partnering with Jacksons, we are well positioned for dramatic growth over the next decade — we intend to double the number of ExtraMile sites in that time."

MISTER CAR WASH CONTINUES EXPANSION

TUCSON, AZ. — Mister Car Wash, based here, is continuing its expansion across the nation, acquiring Car Wash Express of Huntsville, AL., and four Clean Machine Car Wash locations in Albuquerque, NM.

"We're pleased to expand our footprint in Albuquerque and welcome the Clean Machine team to the Mister Family," said Joe Matheny, vice president of Operations for Mister Car Wash.

The Clean Machine Car Wash acquisition gives Mister Car Wash a total of 11 locations in the Albuquerque market, comprised of six full service and five express carwashes, including their new express site that opened in February 2018 in Bernalillo.

Included in the Car Wash Express deal were seven express carwashes located in the towns of Hartselle, Athens, Madison, and Decatur, all in the greater Huntsville area. All of the sites will be rebranded to the Mister Car Wash image.

"Adding Car Wash Express to the growing Mister family gives us an opportunity to showcase our brand to the greater Huntsville market." said Casey Lindsay, vice president of Mergers and Acquisitions for Mister Car Wash. "We welcome aboard our new team members from Car Wash Express and look forward to continued growth."

With these latest acquisitions, Mister Car Wash now operates 257 car washes in 21 states.

S.F. VOTERS APPROVE OF FLAVORED TOBACCO BAN

SAN FRANCISCO, CA. — Voters in San Francisco have cast their ballots to support the city's ban on flavored tobacco products — including menthol — by a 2-to-1 margin.

In the June election, more than 68% of voters approved Proposition E, which prohibits licensed tobacco retailers from selling flavored tobacco products.

The measure was put onto the San Francisco ballot after the the San Francisco Board of Supervisors unanimously approved an ordinance prohibiting the sale of all flavored tobacco products including menthol cigarettes in June 2017. The regulation affected retailers in San Francisco County as well as the city itself.

Tobacco companies and retailers formed a coalition, No on Pro E — Stop the Prohibition Proposition, and spent over $11.5 million to fight the measure, to no avail. The opponents argued that the ban would lead to a black market for flavored tobacco, harm small businesses in the area, and restricted the choice of a legal product to adults.

Industry analysts believe all of these arguments to be true and expect consumers to continue to purchase their flavored tobacco products outside the San Francisco area.

The Small Business Commission estimates there are approximately 726 local retailers — primarily convenience stores and gasoline stations — that sell tobacco products and are affected by the ban.

Originally published in the August 2018 issue of O&A Marketing News.
Copyright 2018 by KAL Publications Inc.